Zaynab bint Madhun
Zaynab bint Madhun was the first wife of Umar.
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Biography
She was the daughter of Madhun ibn Habib of the Jumah clan of the Quraysh in Mecca;[1]:204 hence she was a sister of Uthman ibn Madhun.[1]:307
She was dark-skinned, a trait that she passed on to her son Abdullah.[1]:252
She married Umar before 605[2]:56 and bore him three children: Hafsa, Abdullah and Abdul-Rahman. Later Umar added two more wives to his household: Umm Kulthum bint Jarwal, who bore him two sons,[1]:203–204 and Qurayba bint Abi Umayya, a cousin from the powerful Makhzum clan, who was childless.[3]:510 Umar said that Quraysh men at that time "had the upper hand over their wives," and "did not pay attention to women".[4]
Zaynab's attitude to Islam is unknown and the date of her eventual conversion is not recorded. Her brother Uthman was one of the earliest converts;[1]:308[3]:116 and two other brothers, Abdullah and Qudama, were also converted "before Allah's Messenger entered the house of al-Arqam."[1]:313 Meanwhile, her husband Umar was hostile to Islam and he actively persecuted Muslim slaves.[3]:144, 154–155 Umar became a Muslim in 616,[1]:205–207[3]:155–159 but Umm Kulthum and Qurayba remained polytheists.[3]:510
Umar emigrated to Medina in 622. The list of family members who accompanied him does not include any women.[3]:218 One tradition asserts that Zaynab had died by then; however, her son Abdullah said that he had emigrated to Medina with both his parents.[5]
Zaynab's daughter Hafsa married Muhammad in 625.[2]:58
Umar noted that the women of Medina "had the upper hand over their men," and that the Meccan women who emigrated to Medina started imitating their behaviour.[6] An altercation occurred when Umar had to make a decision, and his wife advised him. Umar shouted at her to mind her own business. The wife answered back, and he expressed displeasure. The wife responded: "How strange you are! You don't want to be argued with, whereas your daughter Hafsa argues with Allah's Messenger so much that he remains angry for a full day!"[4][6] It is assumed that this unnamed wife was Zaynab because of her apparent intimacy with Hafsa.
In 628 Umar divorced Umm Kulthum and Qurayba because of a new instruction from Muhammad that a Muslim could not remain married to a polytheist.[3]:510[7] He did not divorce Zaynab, so, if she was still alive, she must have become a Muslim. However, Zaynab probably died before 641, as four other women are listed as Umar's wives by that date.[1]:204[2]:186–187[8][9]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Muhammad ibn Saad. Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir vol. 3. Translated by Bewley, A. (2013). The Companions of Badr. London: Ta-Ha Publishers.
- 1 2 3 Muhammad ibn Saad. Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir vol. 8. Translated by Bewley, A. (1995). The Women of Madina. London: Ta-Ha Publishers.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Muhammad ibn Ishaq. Sirat Rasul Allah. Translated by Guillaume, A. (1955). The Life of Muhammad. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- 1 2 Bukhari 6:60:435.
- ↑ Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani. Al-Isaba fi tamyiz al-Sahaba, vol. 7 #11250.
- 1 2 Bukhari 7:62:119.
- ↑ Bukhari 3:50:891.
- ↑ Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari. Tarikh al-Rusul wa'l-Muluk. Translated by Juynboll, G. H. A. (1989). Volume 13: The Conquest of Iraq, Southwestern Persia, and Egypt, pp. 109-110. Albany: State University of New York Press.
- ↑ Muhammad ibn Saad. Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir vol. 5. Translated by Bewley, A. (2000). The Men of Madina Volume II, p. 1. London: Ta-Ha Publishers.